Kenya Mall Attack: Israeli experts in Kenya to end Nairobi mall siege

Gunmen attack shopping mall in Nairobi: Gunmen stormed a popular shopping mall in the Kenyan capital, lobbing grenades and firing weapons, killing at least 68 people and trapping scores more inside. In addition to the dead, more than 175 people were injured in the deadliest attack in Kenya since the 1998 U.S. Embassy bombings.

A team of Israeli experts has arrived in Kenya to help its close African ally end the three-day standoff with Somalia’s al-Shabab fighters at a partly Tel Aviv-owned shopping mall in Nairobi.

Israeli officials refused to talk about the precise nature of the assistance they are providing to Kenyan authorities, The Associated Press reported on Monday.

“Israel is always ready to help…friendly countries, in combating terrorism. I think that terrorism has become a threat to the entire world and therefore countries – the United States, Israel, and other Western countries – should cooperate,” said Yuval Steinitz, the Israeli cabinet minister for strategic affairs.

Israel and Kenya exchange intelligence. Tel Aviv has also trained the security forces of the eastern African country, according to some reports.

Kenya government spokesman Manoah Esipisu said on Monday that the siege of Nairobi’s Westgate shopping mall, which has left at least 62 dead and about 200 injured, was nearing the end.

Kenyan forces backed by Israeli agents launched a major assault on Sunday evening to end the standoff that started on Saturday when 10 to 15 al-Shabab militants stormed the mall from two sides, and warned the Kenyan government to withdraw its troops from their country.

“Our special forces are inside the building checking the rooms. Obviously it’s a very, very big building,” Esipisu said.

According to reports, the dead also included three British nationals, two French women, two Canadian citizens, including a diplomat, a Chinese woman, two Indians, a Ghanaian poet, a South Korean, a South African, and a Dutch woman.

On Saturday, al-Shabab fighters claimed responsibility for the assault.

“The Christian government of Kenya invaded our country in October 2011 killing many innocent civilians with their military jets,” al-Shabab spokesman Sheik Ali Mohamud Rage said.